The present invention regards a rapid tyre inflation plant.
Generally speaking tyres are currently inflated using an inflation device (an inflation pistol provided with, manometer), connected to a distribution network of compressed air. Inflation occurs by inserting air through a check valve for tyres that, as is well known, has a relatively small section for the passage of air, usually of about 3 mm2.
Given the available pressure gradient in normal compressed air distribution networks (with a maximum of 10 bar) and such a small section for air passage, the time taken to fully inflate a tyre is about 50 seconds for a car and ten minutes or more in the case of a road truck. In order to shorten the inflation times it has already been suggested to first dismantle the inner part of the check valve and then to reassemble it after inflation. With such an expedient the time taken to fill the tyre can be reduced to about 5 minutes but it is a very laborious process and in some cases may prejudice the proper working of the valve and thus compromise tyre safety, not least because it may result in possible pressure loss over a relatively short time.
So as to significantly reduce the inflation time, given that it is not possible to increase the section for the passage of air through the tyre check valve, it would be necessary to greatly increase the pressure of the filling gas (air, nitrogen or other inert gas), except for the fact that the limited energy available at the filling sites means it is not usually possible to obtain a sufficient pressure volume flow for the desired pressure. On the other hand, safety considerations rule out the use of a large, high capacity tank with a high internal pressure as the source of the compressed air upstream of the inflation system.